DALLAS -- It wasn't the timeout the Detroit Pistons didn't get and that he didn't order that bothered head coach Maurice Cheeks most, or the game-winning drive by New Orleans' Eric Gordon in another home heartbreak, or the lower-bowl fan who cursed him afterward.

It was those nine second-chance points on three offensive rebounds by the Pelicans in the fourth quarter, and yet another late meltdown by a team now clearly defined by them.

"Fourth quarter, I mean, we've been over situations like that," Cheeks said after the 103-101 loss on Friday. "Been over them. And they continue to get loose balls, they continue to get second shots. Second shots allow them to get 3-point shots. More opportunities."

Brandon Jennings had 18 of his 28 points in the third quarter, then shot 2 of 7 in the fourth, including a missed layup and a desperation heave to end the game, as Cheeks tried to call for a timeout after Gordon's winning layup with 1.9 seconds left.

Jennings was gone when the locker room opened after the game, and the Pistons were off Saturday, but the point guard addressed the team's central problem at Friday morning's shootaround.

"I think right now, if you were on the opposite team, you'd say that we're not really as good in the second half as we are in the first half. That's just the truth," Jennings said. "That's just been lingering on all year so far."

Jennings said the Pistons (17-26), who play at 7:30 p.m. (ET) tonight here against the Dallas Mavericks (25-20), come out "sluggish" and without "any firepower" in second halves.

It has cost them, and now everything is magnified -- the patience of owner Tom Gores after his preseason playoff mandate, the performance of president of basketball operations Joe Dumars in his contract year, questions about why Cheeks and his staff haven't gotten more from this team, and the Pistons' direction as the Feb. 20 trade deadline approaches.

They are ninth in the Eastern Conference, yet also have the ninth-worst record in the league.

They entered Saturday one game removed from the playoff line.

They also were one game removed from the line where they might hope to keep their first-round draft pick, pending the lottery. They owe Charlotte a first-rounder from the 2012 Ben Gordon trade, but the pick is top-eight-protected this year.

Yet the Pistons aren't trying to tank for a potentially rich draft, as some teams clearly are.

They're doing it unintentionally, in second halves, and particularly at home, where they are by far the worst second-half team in the NBA.

The Pistons rank 29th in second-half scoring margin at minus-3.9 points per game, but at home, the margin is a whopping minus-8.8. The only other team with as much as a five-point negative margin is Boston, at minus-6.1.

Not coincidentally, it was at Boston where the Pistons got their only come-from-behind win after three quarters, as opposed to their seven come-from-ahead losses after three quarters.

The Pistons have entered the fourth quarter leading in 23 of 43 games.

Cheeks acknowledged Friday that lineup changes are "always a thought" and most likely would involve moving Rodney Stuckey into the starting group.

But he said he isn't to that point yet, and it wouldn't necessarily address the putrid finishes anyway.

Cheeks took the blame for leaving a timeout on the board after Gordon's game-winner, and said he didn't hear a fan who bellowed that he was "a (bleeping) idiot" after the final horn, though he stared into the stands for more than a minute after the game ended.

The Pelicans getting nine of their 17 second-chance points in the fourth quarter, on three offensive rebounds and one team rebound, gnawed at Cheeks. But it was also his decision to leave his second-best rebounder, Greg Monroe, on the bench in the fourth quarter, with Kyle Singler matched up extensively against Anthony Davis at power forward.

With the Pistons going small, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Stuckey, Jennings, Singler and Will Bynum combined to play 43:44 of an available 60 minutes in the fourth quarter. They totaled one rebound between them.

When the Pistons missed their last eight jump shots after leading 93-83, including Jennings' heave at the buzzer, and Pelicans made 4 of 5 3-pointers during the same stretch, the game flipped.

The Pistons have lost 10 of their last 13 overall, and eight of nine at home.

It's not like a trip to Dallas helps much. The Pistons have lost 40 of their last 42 road games against the Western Conference, with both wins at Sacramento. They haven't won here since 2006.

"At the end of the year, you don't want to look back and be like, 'Man, if we could have won that game or that game, we'd be in a better position,'" Jennings said Friday. "And that's the position that we're in right now. We're headed in that direction unless we change things."